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Knicks Win at the Hornets' Game: 3-Point Shots

When the long-distance shootout portion of the Eastern Conference playoffs was over, Allan Houston was standing with raised fists while Glen Rice was still waiting for an open look at the basket.

The Knicks made more shots beyond the arc than the National Basketball Association's most impressive 3-point team, and Rice and the Charlotte Hornets lost at their own game.

New York took Game 1 of their three-of-five-game first-round series, beating the Hornets by 109-99. Before a charged crowd at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks erased a third-quarter collapse with a fourth-quarter sprint, knocking down every key shot and trying a novel approach to back up their stingy defense on Rice: Give Houston the ball and let him employ the same weapon.

''Sometimes you consciously square up and do those technical things, and sometimes you feel like it just comes to you -- that's what happened tonight,'' Houston said. ''I wasn't nervous; I was just excited. I just said, let's see what happens.''

He scored 13 of his 25 points in the final period, which began with a 75-75 tie. Of his four 3-pointers, three came during a four-minute span that had the Garden crowd on its feet and the Hornets calling time. The Knicks were 10 of 21 from 3-point range, compared with 8 of 19 for Charlotte, which during the regular season was the best 3-point-shooting team ever in the N.B.A.

Rice ended with 22 points and made 9 of 17 shots. He scored but he did not erupt, as he had against the Knicks during the regular season.

Game 2 will be tomorrow at 3:30 P.M. at the Garden, where the Hornets, not the Knicks, will have to make some major perimeter adjustments.

As for the playoff inexperience of the Knicks' hired guns, Patrick Ewing is not worrying. Chris Childs had 14 points and 8 assists in his first playoff game, and Larry Johnson scored 17 of his 20 during an emotional first half.

''It's the best I've seen them play collectively since they've been here,'' Ewing (15 points, 9 rebounds) said of Houston, Johnson and Childs. ''We need them to play like they did tonight in order to win a championship. We are having our coming-out party now.''

Charlotte Coach Dave Cowens said: ''They moved the ball awfully well when they responded to our traps and our scrambling defense. It's tough. Rickey Pierce is 37, and he's trying to stay in front of Starks.''

The Hornets, who had taken three of four from the Knicks in the regular season and presented huge matchup problems, were discombobulated by an aggressive defense in the final quarter after they crawled back into the game in the third.

The Hornets rebounded from a 13-point first-half deficit to take the lead near the end of the third quarter. Everything the Knicks had accomplished the first two quarters had been canceled out by Charlotte.

Before then, it was the L. J. Show. Johnson, his head clean-shaven earlier in the afternoon, essentially started the post-season anew. He enlarged his old role over the past 82 games, going from a decent contributor who posted career-low numbers (12.8 points and 5.2 rebounds) to a multidimensional threat with a mission.

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He was more theatrical than the emotional John Starks (19 points) has been all season, pumping his fists, howling wildly after each made shot and looking to mug for any and every courtside camera. He was Deion Sanders in high-tops.

After scoring underneath and drawing a foul late in the first half, he charged toward the Knick bench with his mouth wide open and eventually made his way to halfcourt, where he preened for everyone by folding his arms like a street-tough rapper and shaking his head.

The Garden welcomed the new L. J., giving him a standing ovation. He was surely reviled in Charlotte, where he often criticized the owner, George Shinn, before and after the trade that sent him to the Knicks. His trade counterpart, Anthony Mason, finished with 13 rebounds, 12 points and 5 assists.

Mason's hair-trigger release led to several shots that clanked off the rim in the second half. He tried to muscle his way to the basket several times but was usually met by Charles Oakley or Buck Williams.

''We had to establish a physical presence and contest all their shots,'' Williams said. ''We had to set the tone with our strength.''

Indicative of the Knicks' tone was that they gave more shoves and forearms than they received.

Maybe it had something to do with the decor of their locker room before the game. Rife with T-shirts, slogans, black sneakers and shaved heads, it had the ambiance of a backwoods high school locker room before the county title game.

''It's rah-rah time,'' said Childs, one of eight Knicks who had his scalp trimmed to the flesh in a show of solidarity yesterday.

Indeed, Coach Jeff Van Gundy had white T-shirts, with the words ''Make 'Em Feel Ya'' emboldened in black, placed in each locker cubicle before the game.

Van Gundy called the victory ''fool's gold,'' and warned his team that it could not win a shootout series with the Hornets. But many of his pre-series concerns were lifted after 48 minutes. His team's defensive intensity could not be matched, and his playoff neophytes -- Johnson, Houston and Childs -- were solid.

''I have to admit, I was concerned about Allan Houston and his psyche before the game,'' Williams said. ''He's been up and down so much, but he always keeps his head up. He really showed me a lot about his character and will tonight by hitting those big shots.''

REBOUNDS

One casualty in the victory involved the on-court chemistry between PATRICK EWING and CHRIS CHILDS, who feuded after a Knicks turnover in the third quarter. It appeared that Ewing, who took only 11 shots, was peeved about not getting the ball. ''I was just frustrated,'' Ewing said. . . . JOHN STARKS was given a long standing ovation after receiving the sixth man of the year award last night before the game.